No amnesty for British soldiers under new NIO legacy consultation
The Secretary of State has launched a long-awaited public consultation on legacy matters, and it says members of the armed forces will not be exempt from new investigations into the Troubles.
The Government has formally unveiled a long-delayed consultation on proposals to deal with the toxic legacy of the Troubles, amid a political row over the exclusion of an amnesty for security force members.
The four-month public consultation will seek to canvass views on a series of new mechanisms to investigate, document and uncover the truth around killings during the 30-year conflict.
It is based on a blueprint from the 2014 Stormont House Agreement.
The implementation of the agreed mechanisms, which include a new independent investigation unit and a truth recovery body, has been delayed amid ongoing political discord here.
The consultation is a bid to inject some momentum into efforts to making those new bodies a reality, but it has become embroiled in controversy over what is not included in the document, rather than what is.
Late last year, the Government, which is to spend ÂŁ150 million setting up the new institutions, indicated that a statute of limitations protecting security force members from historic prosecutions may be added to the consultation.
The prospect of such a move was met by a wave of opposition in Northern Ireland.
Both Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionists voiced concern, as did the Irish Government and representatives of the victims sector.
The DUP and some military veterans in Northern Ireland made the point that any such statute would, by law, have to be extended to also cover former paramilitaries - something they branded unacceptable.
Senior DUP figures favour protections for ex-service personnel as part of wider legislation that focuses on all conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
While the decision to remove the contentious proposal from the consultation was therefore widely expected in Northern Ireland, it has nonetheless generated opposition both within the Cabinet and on the Conservative backbenches.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson is understood to be among ministers unhappy at the prospect of veteran servicemen being prosecuted.
Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley insisted today that the new mechanisms would be "balanced, proportionate, transparent, fair and equitable''.
"I welcome the opportunity to launch the consultation today, seeking views on how to address the legacy of Northern Ireland's troubled past,'' she said.
"Since my appointment as Secretary of State, I have heard deeply moving stories about the suffering that victims and survivors have lived with for decades and the profound and lasting impact on individuals, families and communities.
"This consultation provides the opportunity to begin a process that has the potential to provide better outcomes for victims, survivors and their families. There is broad agreement that the current complex system does not work well for anyone and we are determined to put that right.
"In an area as sensitive as the troubled past in Northern Ireland, it is important that we recognise and listen to all views. Any way forward will only work if it can command confidence from across the community.
"Now is the time for everyone with an interest in addressing the legacy of Northern Ireland's troubled past to have their say.''
While not publicly backing calls for an amnesty, Prime Minister Theresa May sparked controversy earlier this week when she claimed that, as things stand, the only people currently being investigated over Troubles incidents were former security force members.
That claim appeared to run contrary to figures published by the police and prosecutors in Northern Ireland last year.
PSNI statistics indicate more of its legacy resources are deployed investigating paramilitaries, while a breakdown of cases taken by the Public Prosecution Service in recent years shows more have been pursued against republican and loyalists than security force personnel.
On Wednesday, Mrs May told the Commons that the current system in Northern Ireland is "patently unfair''.
Her remarks came as some of her backbenchers criticised the Government's failure to include a statute of limitations on security force prosecutions in the legacy consultation.
Over recent years, the concept of an amnesty has gained traction among a number of Westminster backbenchers, who claim that recent prosecutions of former British soldiers are tantamount to a "witch-hunt''.
Prosecutors and police in Northern Ireland insist such allegations simply do not stand up to scrutiny, with a breakdown of figures showing no disproportionate focus on ex-security force members.
Sinn Féin Deputy Leader Michelle O’Neill has welcomed today’s publication and strongly criticised the Government for delaying the process for so long.
She said: “The Stormont House Agreement was four years ago and the institutions agreed then are still not in operation. Victims should not have had to wait so long to get to this stage. They should not have had to see so many false promises from the British Government come and go during that period.
“This is much too important an issue for it to be jeopardised by in-fighting within the Tory cabinet as we have seen over recent days. The Stormont House legacy bodies are key to finding a way forward on the past so its important that we now move on with the consultation and the British Government end their stalling, delaying and deliberate misinformation with regard to this issue."
Meanwhile the Ulster Unionist Party Leader Robin Swann is urging the public to respond to the process while reiterating a warning of the very real dangers contained in the proposals for the creation of the HIU:
“There is no question that the current methods of dealing with the past are imbalanced, unfair and piecemeal, but nobody should be in any doubt that the proposed Historical Investigations Unit - the brainchild of DUP negotiators - has the potential to make things much worse.
“It will be a parallel police force under the direction of an independent director, with the same powers as the PSNI in terms of arrest and investigation, but we believe it will target its activities against former soldiers and police officers. This is inevitable, because the State, the RUC and the Army all have historical operational archives and records that the HIU can freely access, whereas no equivalent files are held by the terrorist groups. As a result, the HIU focus will fall on the police and the army.
“Furthermore, it will only investigate deaths, so the tens of thousands of people who were injured – often very seriously – are forgotten. And nothing is to be done about the 15,000 explosions that were caused by terrorists – the vast majority the work of the Provisional IRA - during the Troubles.
And Amnesty Inernational says the document repeats some of the failings and flaws of the 2014 Stormont House Agreement when it comes to the rights of those tortured and injured during the conflict.
Grainne Teggart, Amnesty Campaigns Manager for Northern Ireland, said:
“Whilst we welcome the long-awaited publication of this consultation, the proposals are devoid of necessary detail and glaring gaps remain.
“Regrettably, the proposals neglect the rights of those tortured and injured in the conflict. Recourse for these victims has been left to a Northern Ireland Executive which doesn’t exist. The UK Government cannot leave these victims wanting.”
The public consultation process is open now and will close on September 10th.